WASHINGTON, Aug 29 (Reuters) - The Pentagon on Friday identified the pilot killed in the crash of an F-15C fighter in Virginia as Lieutenant Colonel Morris "Moose" Fontenot Jr., a U.S. Air Force veteran.

Fontenot, an F-15 instructor and combat veteran, was piloting the Massachusetts Air National Guard plane when it went down on Wednesday in a remote area of western Virginia. Searchers found his body on Thursday.

He was flying the single-seat Boeing Co fighter to New Orleans to receive a system upgrade. Fontenot reported an in-flight emergency shortly before contact was lost with the Washington flight controller, and the crash is under investigation.

Fontenot was the inspector general of the Massachusetts Air National Guard's 104th Fighter Wing, stationed at Barnes Air National Guard Base in Westfield.

He was a 1996 Air Force Academy graduate and a former squadron commander. He joined the Massachusetts Air National Guard in February 2014.